KEXP Reviews

This Austin band’s last album Black Sheep Boy was one of 2004’s most acclaimed releases, and they follow it up here with another remarkable full-length that’s smart, funny, rousing and deeply poignant, often all in the same song. While Black Sheep Boy was a rather dark and raggedly dynamic affair, The Stage Names is a more bright and melodic take on the band’s orchestral folk-pop sound, befitting the album’s overarching theme of modern entertainment. Will Sheff is one of indie-rock’s great lyricists, and many of the songs here rank with his best. 7/25/2007
- Don Yates